Fear of the Lord and what it Brings

The Awe of Wisdom: Embracing the Fear of the Lord

I have a few hard questions to start off today :

What is the real reason are you serving God?

Are you serving God out of a living desire to please Him?

Or are you serving God out pure fear of the consequences?

Are you Serving God because you feel obligated?

Today I am going to cover something that isn’t talked about a whole lot in some places but today we are going to go there.

Philippians 2:12 NKJV

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;

We are going to talk about Holy Fear we will see what it is and the blessings that we receive.

Prayer

So you ask well Dave what is Holy Fear?

Holy fear is a profound reverence, awe, and adoration of God rather than a terrified, sheer and utter fear.

Holy Fear is something that our Spirit should crave for, we should fear the thought of eternal separation from God and His eternal judgement.

My friends Holy Fear is a gift of love and protection that comes from our creator.

We stand and in complete reverence and recognize His authority and majesty. Holy Fear leads to a life well-lived, and aligned with His will.

Hebrews 12:28–29 NKJV

28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire.

So what exactly is Holy Fear?

Let me give some examples of Holy Fear:

Holy Fear has a drawing not a repulsive effect on us.

To fear God is to have the highest reverence for Him, and respect Him greatly.

Holy Fear is holding God above anything or anyone in our lives.

When we fear God, we take on His heart, meaning we love what He loves and hate what He hates. Right?

So with that being said:

To fear God is to hate sin

to fear God is to hate injustice

To fear God is to depart from evil in every sense, thought, word, or action. (keep from talking deceitfully).

To fear God is to tremble before Him in wonder and awe. It is to give His word and presence our full undivided attention.

We are about to embark upon the benefits of Holy Fear, the blessings God gives us from Holy Fear.

For instance the first blessing is that once we recognize Holy Fear this is our beginning wisdom, understanding, and knowledge, it gives us foresight and a clear divine direction in our lives.

What Are The Aspects of Holy Fear:

Reverent Awe, Not Terror: it is a respectful, loving awe of God’s character and holiness, not a paralyzing fear of punishment

The foundation of Wisdom: True knowledge and understanding begin with recognizing God as the ultimate source of truth, placing Him first in our lives

A shift in attitude: this fear inspires a desire to know God’s will and follow His instructions, contrasting with the fools who disregard His wisdom.

A Gifted Perspective: it is seen as a gift of the Holy Spirit, helping believers align their lives with divine wisdom.

1. Holy Fear The Foundation of True Wisdom

Proverbs 1:7 NKJV

7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

In Proverbs we see the Word of God telling us that the fear of the Lord is the absolute beginning of knowledge, once we achieve knowledge and experience it first hand we develop a complete understanding of things.

This is the absolute start and the foundation for godly knowledge.

This knowledge also leads us into our next steps of living a life that is in alignment with God’s commands, turning from evil, represents a foundational act of repentance.

repentance meaning: turning away from.

2. Holy Fear is The Cornerstone of Understanding

Psalm 111:10 NKJV

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.

Now we begin to see things starting to come together with holding Holy Fear, the Psalmist tells us that the fear of the Lord is also the beginning of Wisdom.

We align with the commandments of God and apply them to our lives, not just one or two but all of His commandments. This is the absolute cornerstone of wisdom. Do you remember many months ago Jeff was showing the building blocks of our relationship with our Lord? The chief cornerstone is Jesus Himself and we keep going as we add blocks to the equation.

This is one of the foundational blocks from the previous teachings we had before.

The more we understand who God is, we begin to make sound judgements. Holy Fear begins to change how we approach life’s decisions and trials that we face, urging us to seek divine guidance over any human advice that is thrown our way. The acknowledgement of God’s wisdom in the world can inspire believers to pursue a life aligned with His commandments, causing both spiritual and practical understanding.

3. Holy Fear Causes A Lifestyle of Devotion

Deuteronomy 10:12–13 NKJV

12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good?

Deuteronomy outlines 4 things that are the core requirements for all of God’s people in adhering to Holy Fear, our first steps in a proper relationship with Him.

Fearing the Lord: recognizing His power and holiness, which leads to departing from evil and avoiding the displeasure of offending Him.

Walking in His ways: choosing a lifestyle of righteousness, obedience, and following God’s example.

Loving Him: Serving God with all your hear and soul, not out of obligation, but only devotion to Him.

Keeping His Commandments: adhering to His statutes, which are given for the benefit and good of His followers.

Holy Fear is intimately connected to obedience and love. We will continue to see how real wisdom involves living a life of devotion and adherence to god’s commands, while having a deep respect for His will that leads to blessings and a deeper relationship with Him.

4. Purpose of Reverence

Ecclesiastes 12:13 NKJV

13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all.

Ecclesiastes shows us the whole duty of man and that is positioning Holy Fear as the essential foundation for a godly life.

Keeping in mind that this fear is not in terror it is a fear that leads us into intimacy with God holding the utmost reverence and awe, acting as the starting point of, wisdom, obedience, and alignment with God’s will.

The points that Ecclesiastes points out to us here are:

The whole duty: it is the ultimate4 conclusion to life’s pursuits, the true purpose is found in respecting and obeying God.

Reverence over terror: it is defined as a deep, loving awe for the Creator, similar to a child’s respect for a parent.

Foundation for Obedience: fearing God naturally leads to keeping His commandments, it is the motivation for aligning daily actions with His will.

Perspective on Judgment: it stems from recognizing that God will judge all actions, both good and evil, promoting a life lived with accountability.

Shouldn’t we take a few moments every day to explore that we do not have any of the worlds vanity in our lives?

Holy Fear is the only solid ground, serving as the first step toward genuine wisdom and obedience, leaving our worldly accomplishments in the dust of our trail in following the Lord.

Gaining a deeper understanding of what God has in store for each of us, leading us into a life of obedience to Him.

The Fear That Inspires Obedience

5. Duty and Divine Obedience

John 14:15 NKJV

15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.

Holy Fear certainly is not fitting God into your life that makes us comfortable, Holy is Fear is about making Him your priority and His kingdom over your own comfort level and interests.

the relationship to fear and obedience are:

Wisdom of Life: the fear of the Lord is foundational to wisdom, prompting a lifestyle of obedience that brings blessing and fulfillment.

Inseparable link: the Bible links the fear of the Lord to keeping His commandments, therefor, genuine reverence is proven through our obedience.

Disobedience indicates a lack of fear: a lack of obedience, as seen in the flight of Jonah (Jonah 1) from God’s command, Jonah highlights a deficiency in the fear of God.

Consequence of Love: jesus state, “if you love Me, keep My commandments. linking love and obedience as inseparable from a Holy Reverence.

6. Obedience Exemplified In Christ

Hebrews 5:7–9 NKJV

7 who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, 8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. 9 And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,

Jesus shows us in Hebrews that He exhibited Holy fear completely, this is the true definition of Holy Fear, Jesus didn’t show a fear of punishment, but a deep devotion and submission to the Father’s will.

Jesus was the example of submission, through His prayer in the garden of Gethsemane when He accepted the cup of suffering rather than escaping it. His prayer was heard because of His godly fear.

Jesus learned obedience by experiencing the suffering of human life.

Jesus was made perfect through His obedience and suffering.

With Jesus being perfected, He is the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.

Jesus’ obedience was rooted in His deep respect and awe for the Father, providing a model for us all to follow, shouldn’t we pursue obedience out of reverence and not just plain old obligation?

7. Active Process of Obedience

Philippians 2:12–13 NKJV

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

We know that we have the active process of obedience in our lives when we work out our own salvation with fear and trembling resulting in true obedience:

Obey God immediately

Obey God even if it doesn’t make sense

Obey God even when you don’t see any personal benefit

Obey God even if it causes pain or discomfort

Obey God to completion.

encourages believers to 'work out your salvation with fear and trembling.' This passage can illustrate that the fear of the Lord involves active participation in one's spiritual growth. Here, obedience is a dynamic process empowered by God, who works in and through believers. This can suggest that reverent fear nurtures a relationship where God’s power enables them to live according to His purpose. Highlighting this aspect of fear can inspire believers to trust in God’s transformative influence in their lives.

God is speaking to us. He speaks through…

1. His word, which is unchanging.

2. The instruction of the Holy Spirit to our inner being.

3. The voice of another Spirit-empowered person – through voice, print, radio, TV, you name it.

The important thing is that we live our lives seeking His input, and then following through on what input he gives on how we are to live our lives and re-present Him in this world.

Deut. 5:29 Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!

It will not always be easy, comfortable, well-spoken of. But when we fear the Lord enough to obey Him, and we make that the rule of our lives, we can look forward to hearing those words, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into your rest.”